Marine enlisted to study computers

Family, friends, school counselor recall 20-year-old killed in Iraq.

Family, friends, school counselor recall 20-year-old killed in Iraq.

January 13, 2006

CLIMAX, Mich. (AP) -- A 20-year-old Michigan man who was killed when an improvised explosive device blasted his tank in Iraq joined the Marine Corps to pursue his interest in computers, a school counselor says. Lance Cpl. Jason T. Little died Saturday in an explosion near Ferris, Iraq, according to the Pentagon. It said he was one of five Marines who died in weekend attacks. Another Marine was killed Saturday in a roadside bombing near Karmah, while three Marines died Sunday in small arms attacks in Fallujah, the military said. Little, who was from the Kalamazoo County community of Climax, was serving with the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. "He died doing what he wanted to do," sister Stephanie Little told The Detroit News. "He knew the circumstances of what he was doing, but believed strongly in serving his country. He was scared at times, but handled everything well." He was a 2003 graduate of Climax-Scotts High School and studied computers at Kalamazoo Valley Community College before enlisting. "It is a shock to a small community," Dr. Geoffrey Balkam, superintendent of Climax-Scotts Community Schools, told the Detroit Free Press. "Jason was a fine young man." Balkam said Little was very interested in computer technology. Computers helped him gain confidence and fueled his interest in the Marines, guidance counselor Judi Kingsbury told the Battle Creek Enquirer. "I think he saw it as an avenue to get training in computers," Kingsbury said. "That was something I saw that changed in him from seventh to 12th grade his maturity and confidence." Lisa Rose, 22, of Bellevue, Mich., said she and Little started dating last summer. She said they met when they worked together at a Meijer store in Battle Creek. Rose said she visited him at Camp Lejeune shortly before his Sept. 17 departure for Iraq and talked with him on the phone before his final mission. "He was always nervous, and he was scared," she said. "You could hear it in his voice. But he always said he would come back."